Grow Your Winery's Audience with WineDirect Marketplace & Vivino

How can wineries succeed in the new buying landscape?

That's the question dominating the industry as wineries feel the loss of in-person sales in 2020. Data from WineDirect users underline these trends: tasting room sales fell 53%, and though ecommerce sales rose by 230%, overall sales were down by as much as 25% for some wineries.

But a select few wineries thrived.

In fact, the top quartile of ecommerce sellers on WineDirect saw their brand's sales increase by 10% this year.

The secret ingredient? Diversification in marketing and sales channels, particularly with digital DTC platforms. At WineDirect, we want to enable more wineries to sell at or above pre-pandemic levels with a balanced digital strategy.

Our partnership with the Vivino marketplace is the prime opportunity for wineries to do just that. It's the largest wine app in the world, known as the Netflix of wine.

You gain access to:

• An ideal target audience of Vivino's 46M users
• A pre-built integration for no cost and minimal effort
• An array of marketing and sales opportunities and tools

The Story Behind Vivino

93% of people who buy wine want help with their decision. Vivino exists to tackle that challenge and make the selection process easier.

It's a central database of wine, with user ratings, tasting notes, pairings, and more, all curated for individual users by an AI algorithm. Users can simply scan a bottle's label to learn everything about the wine, and in some cases, purchase it.

The app has exploded in popularity: 20,000 users download it daily, and the company has seen 100% growth each year for over five years, much of it organic. The pandemic only buoyed that growth — particularly when you consider that 75% of consumers have tried new brands during the pandemic, and 60% plan to stick with those brands.

Vivino at a glance:

• 200,000 wineries
• 12.2M wines
• 46M users

"This third-party marketplace provides the best of all worlds: the winery stays in complete control of sales and pricing, WineDirect executes the work, and Vivino provides the buyers."

Vivino as a Sales Engine

Its deep wealth of wine data and user insights makes it a powerful tool for marketing and sales. For instance, Vivino can easily identify which user base would be most likely to buy a specific Pinot from a particular winery; after all, the app's purpose is to help its users buy the right wine for them.

As a result, Vivino is now perfectly primed to become the world's largest platform for buying wine.

There's only one obstacle: we need more winery partnerships.

Right now, only 15% of wines come with the option to purchase in-app. Vivino has built the audience and the demand; now, it is looking to fuel the supply.

WineDirect's marketplace integration serves as a mutually beneficial partnership that links wineries' supply with Vivino's demand because chances are, most of your winery's wines are already on the app — so why not give users the option to purchase them then and there?

How the WineDirect & Vivino Marketplace Works

Vivino's marketplace is particularly valuable to WineDirect wineries: 85% of their wines match to an existing app listing, and the majority are in high demand with 4+ star ratings.

With a few clicks, WineDirect clients can enable a buy button on the Vivino app, thanks to our pre-built integration. Here's how it works:

1. You list the product. Wineries simply toggle on the Vivino option within a given product's listing page on WineDirect, then complete all fields and add pricing information.

From there, the WineDirect team takes over.

1. We handle all store merchandising, including product descriptions, and branding, for a seamless experience across both Vivino and your own store.
2. We run fulfillment through our facility to ensure orders ship the same day they're processed
3. We handle returns, replenishment, etc. We also take care of shipping notifications — everything to do with inventory management.
4. We pay vendors for you: we ensure invoices to Vivino, payment processors, banks, and carriers are paid; you're guaranteed to receive 50% or more of the sale price.

The WineDirect store on Vivino also enables cross-selling, push marketing and promotions from Vivino's AI for all participating wineries.

This marketplace model provides the best of all worlds: the winery stays in complete control of sales and pricing, WineDirect executes the work, and Vivino provides the buyers.

Ready to boost your brand with Vivino? Get in touch with us today, whether or not you're an existing WineDirect customer.